New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-09-02
BASES OF A NEW TREATY.

=. The State Department officials are rcticent
respecting the fisheries C. INVENTION negotiated
with Great Britain. Evasions and quasi
denials will probably cease when the CORE
spondence is laid before Congress in detail il
tho English bluc-bo0hs do not contain it be-
fore the adjournment Of Parliament A dip
lomatic agreement of some kind must have
preceded the appointment of Mr.. Chamberlain
as Chief Commissioner; and the nature Of that
convention may be inferred from the text of
Mr. Bayards and Lord Salisburys letters
which was Published last April. Mr. Phelps
had proposed on September IL, 1886, an al
interim construction of the Treaty Of 1918 by
the two Governments to be reached by mutual
consent and ~ be carried out informally. Mr.
Bayard in November suggested formal refer
cnce of the matters in dispute to a Mixed Com
mission charged with the settlement Of tho
beadands question and the establishment OF
regulations for securing the right Of decp-sea
fishing and Of penalties for Interference with
that right. He defined the conditions under
which the United States Government would
be willing to have these questions considered
by commission. These conditions were not
favorably entertained by the Canadian author
tiles, and Lord Salisbury, while cOudteously
discussing them in his reply Of March "a pre-
ferred TO make a counterprOpostion. This
was an offer to return to the Treaty OF Wash
ington with the financial indemnity left out
Tho subsequent correspondence has not been
published, but it may safely be infencd that
the scheme for a joint commission is based
upnn Mr.. Bayards rather than Lord Sails
bury's proposal.
II Lord Salisbury's offer had been accepted
outright there would have been no need Of a
commission. He assumed that the fisheries
clauses Of the Treaty Of Washington had been
abrogated through discomfort with the fnan-
cial features of the Halifax award. lie pro
posed return 10 the treaty without an in
dcmnity for the inshore fisheries The arbi
traitors had decided that the privilege OF fish
ing three miles from shore was worth in round
numbers $500, 900 year over and above the
privilege of free entry into American ports
Lord Salisbury suggested that the free market
should be considered an ample Offset to the
inshore fisheries. as Mr.. Evarts in 1878 had
claimed it to be, and that nothing more should
BIO said about hard cash. If this offer had
been favorably received, the British Minister
and Mr. Bayard could have made arrange
mcntS 10r the fcVlNa OF INC ucaty Clauses anu
a commission would have been wholly unnec-
essary The organization of the Commission
with so eminent statesman as Mr.. Chamber
lain at its head proves that new treaty is to
be negotiated Lord Salisbury, perceiving
that his surrender of the indemnity was not
well received in Canada, has probably con-
sented TO convention based nominally uIOn
Mr.. Bayard's propositions of last November.
but practically enlarged so as to permit
general settlement Of the questions at issue.
A glance at the conditions stipulated by Nr.
Bayard in his original offer will show that
Canada viii not be satisfied with such treaty
as he then outlined A free market for FISH
is what the Maritime Provinces demand, and
nothing else will suffice; and there Is great
danger that the Administration will appoint
Commissioners with free-tiade sympatbics who